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Exchange traded funds continue to increase in number and popularity, growing to one of the most commonly traded securities on the stock exchange as both institutional and the average retail investor gain greater access to broad or specialized market exposure. Yet many individuals are unfamiliar with ETFs’ inner workings. In this ongoing series, we hope to address your questions and help shed light on the investment vehicle. [What is an ETF?–Part 3: Enhanced Indexing][What is an ETF–Part5: Know Your Holdings]

The majority of ETFs charge low expense ratios because of their passive indexing nature, but ETFs are also more tax efficient than their mutual fund counterparts as a result of “in-kind” creation and redemption of shares.

Unlike mutual funds, ETFs do not sell holdings in exchange for cash, which would trigger a taxable event. Instead, the ETFs undergo a creation and redemption process in which market makers, authorized participants or large institutional investors swap a basket of securities from the underlying benchmark index for ETF shares, or vice versa.

An authorized participant would borrow shares of stock from an underlying benchmark and put them in a trust to form a so-called creation unit of an ETF. The Trust would provide shares of the ETF that are legal claims on the shares held in the ETF. As such, the authorized participant exchanges the basket of stocks for ETF shares, which are then sold to the public as stocks in the open market.

Conversely, ETF shares may be exchanged for a basket of securities from the underlying benchmark. Someone would have to hoard enough ETF shares to form a creation unit and then exchange the creation unit for shares of the underlying securities.

The opinions and forecasts expressed herein are solely those of Tom Lydon, and may not actually come to pass. Information on this site should not be used or construed as an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation for any product.